Sweet Baby Octopolish!

One good eclipse deserves another, right?  When the maker of CrowsToes mentioned she was having family in to watch the eclipse go right overhead, I shouted out for an eclipse polish...and with enough clamoring from the rest of the fan group, we got it! indoor, bright CF lighting CrowsToes Total Eclipse of the Crow is an inky sapphire packed with glassfleck shimmer in at least 2 colors to my eye - I see gold and green in there, maybe silver too?  I also caught a very occasional flash of sparkle that was suggestive of a pinch of holo dust thrown in the mix, but I'm not at all classifying this as holographic. window-filtered overcast daylight Eclipse was nearly opaque in one coat, but I've done 2 here for perfect depth and coverage.  This was  a touch too thick with all the shimmer particles in there, but a couple drops of thinner had it flowing nicely even. indoor, bright CF lighting In full sun, this was sparkly like stars in a night sky (stars in an...

"Unicorn Pee" (GAH how I hate that moniker.  but one must swim with the tide - note that my "230/FF" tag has been updated to include UP in there.  sigh.) is back in craze in a huge way with indie nail polish creators over the past few months.  I'm not alone in this being my fave sparkle pretty much ever, and even in a hoard that's kinda out of control, I just can't say no to this magic. indoor, bright CF lighting Don Deeva has been releasing a few Clarins 230/Fantasy Fire/Unicorn Pee polishes over the last year or so, then announced this pair in her fan group this month - a duo of jelly polishes with DOUBLE the typical amount of shifty shimmer in them.   Obviously , these got snapped up by yours truly ASAP. indoor, bright CF lighting The two have utterly identical formulas - both go on perfectly smooth, but need extra dry time in between coats due to their jelly nature - with Sid Vicious the more wine purple and Nancy the violet purple. i...

Being a scientist and a huge science nerd, I went all kinds of nutso over the solar eclipse that was at more than 80% of totality in my area...I got eclipse stamps at the post office (they're thermal!!!), scrounged up a pair of legit glasses last-minute, and of course had to get my nails all ready to go, too! indoor, bright CF lighting Gravity Lapse is from Femme Fatale's 2013 collection of linear holographics with gorgeous contrasting shimmer, all of which have space/Warcraft themed names.  This one is a steely grey with a subtly duochromatic shimmer that leans a little purple to a little green. indoor, bright CF lighting - the greenest I could catch this winking on camera. Like all of this collection, the formula is just flawless, with perfect opacity at 2 coats and approximately no cleanup needed.  Interestingly enough, the brush is noticeably smaller than what most indies in general and even Femme Fatale currently use.  Huh.  Oh well, no problems appl...

In my efforts to get through my big pile of untried polishes, it's nice to sometimes stop with my swatching and actually play around with learning new techniques. indoor, bright CF lighting Tonic Polish was a recent maker of the month for Hella Holo Customs, and the luscious forest green Dragon Scale was my immediate must-have.  It's a smooth linear holo in the typical somewhat thick Tonic style, with some subtle iridescent flakes tossed into the mix.  It's nearly a one-coater, and if you layer on your first coat with a heavier hand than mine, one is all you'll need. outdoor, afternoon daylight for both For the 2 middle nails on both hands, I got the idea from a compilation video posted to one of my FB polish groups.  The video credited Sveta Sanders, but no hint of the mani I saw was to be found even after scrolling through the past year and a half of her IG posts.  The closest similar technique was one found in this video , where she layers drops of pol...

I mentioned in the last post that I was out of town for a wedding.  Well, it was a lovely after-5, dress up in cocktail dresses and enjoy the garden party sort of affair, which means I certainly had to have my nails compliment my deep turquoise dress and aquamarine jewels. indoor, CF lighting I've worn Femme Fatale Maze of Mirrors once before as an accent nail and striping polish , but this time I went with it solo. window-filtered shady daylight This time, I did one less coat, stopping at 2 - it's a slightly lighter, more ethereal look than getting Maze up to complete opacity, but the bottle-glass aqua color is still there in full glory.  If anything, the golden shimmer seemed even more apparent to me this time. indoor, bright CF lighting While I'd originally intended to stamp using gold polish and a pattern that was complimentary to my dress, The gold shimmers and delicately blingy holo sparkle spoke for themselves enough to not need anything else. o...

This week, I was off to the West Coast for a wedding, so of course only remembered to snap a couple quick photos of my nails rather than the whole shebang. outdoor, bright daylight Don Deeva's Wisteria is a pale, creamy grey crelly with a pretty magenta shimmer and lavender micro-flakes.  This needed 3 coats for smooth opacity, but once it was there this wore like iron with absolutely no tipwear or chipping after several days. outdoor, bright daylight I've stamped over Wisteria using Esmaltes da Kelly Fox Fur, a swoony plum wine holo, and Creative Shop plate 52. Rating:  another fantastic 4 out of 5 stars - Don Deeva is becoming a fave brand for sure! Where to buy:   direct from the Deeva's store . ~Michelle

My Don Deeva-palooza continues today with Victoria Got-Tea. indoor, bright CF lighting The Deeva has been releasing a whole slew of polishes lately with the color-shifting shimmer in Clarins 230 that makes polish addicts go nuts.  Victoria isn't that classic red-to-green shifting shimmer, but is instead a "sister" that shifts from ruddy bronze to gold to bright green, sparkling over a sapphire blue jelly base. outdoor, bright sunlight This particular green looks to be a lighter grass/kelly than the emerald green in 230-type shimmer, but it still contrasts beautifully on the blue background. indoor, window-filtered daylight The jelly base needed 3 coats to become opaque and even, but the formula had a nice consistency (not too thick or sticky) and dried quickly enough that the 3rd coat was no trouble.  There's enough of the shimmer particle in the base that it dries just a little duller than the glassy look you see when it's wet, so topcoat is...

Recently, The Don Deeva announced some polishes that absolutely struck my fancy, and as I set reminders for the launch date it occurred to me that I had plenty of her creations in my stash and yet they were ALL untried...now it's Don Deeva week around here! indoor, bright CF lighting Big Lights Will Inspire You is a NYC PolishCon exclusive from earlier this year that has me belting out the song in my head every time I look at the name.  It's a gorgeous true silver (neither blue- nor champagne-leaning) linear holo that also packs a punch of silver holographic flake.  Think of it as a brighter, smoother version of Orly Mirrorball - the two are neck-and-neck for blingiest silver holo ever.  It went on in two super smooth coats with an excellent formula that stayed right where I put it. Overcast daylight As soon as I painted this color, I wanted it to be the base for some leadlighting nail art (enough so that I totally spaced on getting a solo pic, whoops!). ...

Turquoise nail polish is so my jam. indoor, CF lighting The Third Moon was one of Beauty So Fly's store exclusives last year, and this one is super complex.  There's a deep green-leaning teal jelly base that's then packed with at least 2 different types of shimmer - one more silvery glass fleck and another more magenta - and finally a generous dusting of iridescent fire-colored flakies. bright afternoon sunlight The formula was typical for a jelly - smooth and easy to control, but let each coat dry so the flakies don't pull or get sticky.  This deep aqua base is also of course prone to stain the skin, so it's a good thing there's no pooling or runny flow going on. window-filtered daylight The flakies and shimmer disperse just perfectly without any fidgeting or placement needed.  This does dry with just a suggestion of texture (all the shimmers tend to grit up ever so slightly), so topcoat is a must with this one. shady, overcast daylight ...